The growing number of social care staff employed on such contracts is also concerning. Public funds should not be used to facilitate fast and loose employment contracts. And the insecurity of work means that staff will be less committed in this all-important sector.

The Resolution Foundation think-tank yesterday called for zero-hours workers to be given parity with other staff after a year in work.

Ed Miliband has promised Labour would change the law and even Business Secretary Vince Cable is considering a review.

The conclusions can already be written – zero-hours contracts cause uncertainty and insecurity for thousands of people and lock them in jobs they cannot easily move on from. They are bad for workers, bad for Britain and, ultimately, bad for business.

We should not be a nation of slave labourers.

Morons in midst

MHAIRI McDonald is the kind of young Scot we’d like to think is reflective of our nation.

Socially conscious, internationally aware, the 24-year-old slept rough on the streets of Glasgow for a night to raise money for the Street Child World Cup in Brazil.

While she was on Sauchiehall Street for the night, she was racially abused by five separate passers-by, representatives of a mindless minority who are infected with bigotry.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. There are ignorant racists in our midst and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.

The morons who hurled abuse at Mhairi missed the point. She is born and bred in Scotland and not the immigrant they assumed her to be – which just goes to show the depth of their stupidity.

Mhairi is the true Scot and representative of the vast majority of decent people in this country of ours.